Homemade Smartfood...or, When Cheese Takes Over Your Life

I still have not admitted to myself that I have cravings, other than of the warm, comfy bed kind. (The 2 cups of pineapple I eat a day just count as normal daily fruit intake, right?) Today, however, I was forced to reckon with the power of cheese. I went through my day and found myself eating cheddar cheese and cashews, cheddar cheese and apple, and fresh pecorino (sheep's cheese) on my popcorn. I'm contemplating getting my lazy butt off the kitchen chair, closing the baked macaroni and cheese recipe windows, and heading to the supermarket to get the last 8 ounces of colby that I need to whip up a batch of Martha's finest Mac and Cheese. And it was then, after licking the last drop of pecorino off my fingers, I had a sinking feeling I've been lying to myself. I do have cravings, and it is everything cheese. That's OK though. Worse cravings have happened.

Some of you may not want to add brie to your turkey sandwich (that was last week's overkill - 3x a day). Maybe making boxed Annie's Shells and Cheese and dumping in copious amounts of butter and Parmesan cheese isn't your thing either. Heck, you might not even want gruyere on your eggs! But, who doesn't feel all warm and fuzzy when they think about that childhood goodness called Smartfood? Mmmm.

It's so easy, it's almost embarrassing posting a recipe. But I will, because maybe you didn't know how easy it was. Maybe it's like one of those stupid logic worksheets your teachers used to give you. You know, the ones you'd look at for a whole 45 minutes wondering what the heck the clues meant.

i i i i i i i i i i OR Head | Ache OR DES
s s s s s s s s s s DES


And then when you found out they stood for tennis, and splitting headache, and despair, you got all mad because you should have known that yourself. Yeah, well homemade Smartfood might be kind of like that. You take a large pot with a handle. Put it on the burner and heat over medium high. Melt 1 - 2 T of coconut oil. Pour in enough popcorn to cover the bottom of the pot. Grab the lid, cover the pot, and let it sit for a minute while you melt your butter and get out the cheese. (I think Parmesan would work well too - or a combination. I just had fresh Pecorino on hand.) Then, gently shake the pot back and forth over the flame. You'll start to hear popping. After a few minutes, the popping will slow down. Take the pot off the heat or you'll end up with nasty burnt popcorn. Pour several tablespoons of melted butter over the popcorn, shake on some salt, and then add about 1/4 cup of cheese or whatever amount suits your fancy. Mix it up with a wooden spoon or your clean hands and enjoy!

I'm off to have some pineapple now...